Tell us about what you do at Dune / what a typical day looks like?  

I am on the Dune People team! I suppose more accurately, I lead the people team. In reality I work in partnership with my wonderful teammate Tahnee who manages our people operations. We lead all the people processes including (but not limited to!) hiring the best talent into Dune and giving them a great experience here from day one, building an epic, high performing team, creating meaningful moments for team connectedness and nurturing a pretty unique culture here at Dune. Most days, Tahnee and I are designing and implementing people processes, initiatives and content from scratch which is interesting, exciting and challenging in equal measure.

How did you get into People?

It chose me! Whichever role I have had in the past, whether that was in operations or as Chief of Staff, I naturally focussed on the people element (the most important?!). I pushed against moving into People formally for a while, purely because of the stigma around “HR.” It's often viewed as a slow and bureaucratic area of business and I wanted to be more strategic, move fast and have impact. Thankfully that view has changed and I have had the pleasure of holding People roles where I have made a difference - whether that's in terms of scaling or creating important foundations for businesses to thrive.

What has been your most memorable Dune moment and why? 

So many, but it has to be the first irl offsite i attended in Italy where i met the team in person for the first time. Walking up to the Tuscan villa we rented for the week and seeing the entire team sat in the sunshine, enjoying eachothers company, was a special moment. We had recently doubled in size, so there was this real sense of excitement as people eagerly got to know each other. After 4 days together, the trip cemented for me something I already knew, which was that Dune hires special people (smart but humble) who were incredibly passionate about our mission. 

What do you love most about Dune? 

I love the understanding and acceptance that no one person knows the answer every time (especially when you are pushing boundaries and building something unique). Our mission is ambitious, and what we are building is complex. Most of us are embarking on new challenges every day where we need to work out what needs to be done for the first time.  Hire smart, inquisitive people who have the confidence to say ‘i don't know the answer, but let me figure it out’ and it's amazing what people can achieve.

What does (Embrace the rollercoaster) mean to you in practice?

Change is inevitable, especially at a series B company. The highs can be exhilarating but managing the inevitable bumps, pivots, or sometimes even blocks to delivering our strategy can be disappointing and tiring. It’s certainly not for everyone so it's important to be clear on what it means. To me it means working on your resilience; on the ability to say when something isn't working, to learn and to move on. Oh and when the highs happen, celebrate HARD!